Venu Jumeirah Dubai
Dubai, UAE
2017
The project is part of Jumeirah Central, a large masterplan developed by Dubai Holding, the emirate’s state company. It is located across Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR) from Mall of the Emirates, covering an area of 160 hectares in the geographic centre of Dubai. Positioned as the ‘downtown’ still lacking in the emirate, the precinct has been conceived as an accessible and functional mixed-use development, providing the metropolis with its first truly urban, human scale district defined by an animated and walkable public realm. The Venu hotel is to be delivered during Phase 1 of Jumeirah Central, in time for 2020 World Expo, tapping into the vastly undersupplied millennial lifestyle 4-star hotel market.
The site benefits from a prominent presence in szr with excellent connection to the Metro. Both the drop-off and the car parking access to this small tower are made through the service road parallel to szr, thus allowing for this square to become an eminently public space. The immense pedestrian flow that spills from the Metro station and the adjacent buildings, will make it a thriving and active place that welcomes city life bursting with cafés, terraces, news stands and street kiosks.
The massing strategy echoes a series of concerns: on the one hand, the volume is located as close as possible to szr in order to have road visibility and urban prominence. On the other hand, this coincides with the need to have the podium and pool terrace located towards West, which has the best views towards the sea and Jumeirah Central. Finally, from the initial outset of a straight block, the volume shifts at a 45º angle so as to wrap the square in conjunction with the adjacent tower and the Metro exit, while generating a sheltered and welcoming place.
While the hotel volume opens in a convex fan-shaped configuration towards the square with its porte-cochère at the hinge, an arcade around the podium offers pedestrians a sheltered walk from the square, in addition to creating the opportunity for an outdoor terrace. The hotel podium, which accommodates the key services and amenities, cascades towards the square from the rooftop pool to the function centre below, so as to grant both the event and all-day dining guests an outdoor area.
Without loosing efficiency, and in order to render the volume a more dramatic expression, the East and South corners are elegantly shaped to have a thinner edge, which inside actually creates an attractive guestroom.
Finally, there are 4 voids carved out from the volume; 2 at ground floor and podium level, indicative of the entrances, and 2 others on the top and with double-height, which serve as relaxation patios for the spa.

Aerial view of Sheikh Zayed Road

General view

Ground-level floor plan

First-level floor plan

Third-level floor plan

9th- to 16th-level floor plan
17th-level floor plan
19th-level floor plan


Location: Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Client: Dubai Holding
Operator: Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts
Scope of Services: Architecture, interior design and landscape architecture
Project Brief: 4-star plus hotel with 276 keys including 41 studio-apartments
Gross Built Area: 24,000 sq. m in 20-storey (plus 2 basements)
Standard Hotel Key: 31 sq. m
Serviced Apartments: 41 units (48 sq. m and 54 sq. m)
Conference Capacity: 700 (theatre) or 450 (banquet) plus meeting rooms
Efficiency Ratio: 78% (programme net areas/ gfa inc. circulation)
Project Status: 2017 (concept design)


